Message from EvansPrez

EvansPrez

Senior Member
Hello All, Rick Drumm here. I am the president of D'Addario & Co. which owns and manufactures Evans Drumheads and Pro-Mark drumsticks. I've been on and off the Drummerworld forum for about 18 months and would like to hear from you and talk about heads and sticks. I am a drummer and through my music industry career I have also been the director of marketing for Remo and for nine years was president of Vic Firth. All are great companies that make great products and have great people working for them. I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Hi Rick! Huge fan of Pro-Mark Sticks, currently inbetween DC9, Abe Cunningham signatures and Zildjian Mike Mangini signature sticks. Can't decide between these 3, but i'm leaning towards the Mangini's, because they are sized like a 5A, longer (like the abe signatures) but heavy like the DC9's! - I Also use Firth MS4's for my practice pad (love them!)

Not the biggest fan of Evans heads however, I think Evans ideas are great! (emad, ec2 etc) as well as the Puresound wire ideas (actually i'll have to thank puresound, they were the only company i could find that make the snare strand for my 70's imperial star snare drum.), but over here in Australia I last herd there was some issue with the distributer? Or at least with my local shop. I've liked remo's sound, but i've found their coating lasts about as long as my concentration span for 1 practice session (somewhere between 2 and 4 hours). Seeing as i've only really encountered Evans briefly on friends kits i've can't really make a decision, but i've heard their coating is great, but the actual tone doesn't last as long.

So i now use aquarian drum heads, and i've found their coating and tone lasts much longer than my experiences with Remo, and i also really like aquarians ideas with drum heads, especially with stuff like the super kick and their "vented" muffle ring on heads such as Focus-X. I also like their Hi Energy heads, and studio X heads. I'm also currently debating whether to put super2's on my starclassic, but i'm unsure to how they sound.

I also use RMV heads (From brazil) on my practice kit - just because they are really cheap for a relatively good sounding head, and its just for practice too.
 
Hi Rick! Huge fan of Pro-Mark Sticks, currently inbetween DC9, Abe Cunningham signatures and Zildjian Mike Mangini signature sticks. Can't decide between these 3, but i'm leaning towards the Mangini's, because they are sized like a 5A, longer (like the abe signatures) but heavy like the DC9's! - I Also use Firth MS4's for my practice pad (love them!)

Not the biggest fan of Evans heads however, I think Evans ideas are great! (emad, ec2 etc) as well as the Puresound wire ideas (actually i'll have to thank puresound, they were the only company i could find that make the snare strand for my 70's imperial star snare drum.), but over here in Australia I last herd there was some issue with the distributer? Or at least with my local shop. I've liked remo's sound, but i've found their coating lasts about as long as my concentration span for 1 practice session (somewhere between 2 and 4 hours). Seeing as i've only really encountered Evans briefly on friends kits i've can't really make a decision, but i've heard their coating is great, but the actual tone doesn't last as long.

So i now use aquarian drum heads, and i've found their coating and tone lasts much longer than my experiences with Remo, and i also really like aquarians ideas with drum heads, especially with stuff like the super kick and their "vented" muffle ring on heads such as Focus-X.

Thanks for supporting Pro-Mark. Let me bring you up-to-date on a couple of things. There have been many exciting changes in both product designs and quality at both Pro-Mark and Evans. We have made some changes to the design of the Evans collars that are extending the tuning range of the head. The design change also helps to extend the life of the head. You will see more about that over the next year. We acquired Pro-Mark in January of this year and have made a number of improvements in the manufacturing process as well as improving the quality of the wood supply. Pro-Mark owns its own sawmill in Tennessee. Regarding the distribution in Australia. D'Addario opened its wholly owned distribution center outside of Melbourne this past week. You will see greater availabiltiy of all Evans and Pro-Mark products.
 
Hi Rick. Since you are the "horse's mouth" there at Evans, I wanted to know, if you are permitted to answer...I am assuming you don't manufacture your own mylar for the drum heads. If this is true, would you say Evans, Aquarian and Remo mylar come from the same manufacturer?
BTW I have your heads on all my drums.
Thanks for your presence here, it goes a long way.
 
hey rick i love evans heads. i use hydraulics on top and g2 on bottom of toms. i use hazy 300 on bottom and g1 and genera on top of my snares. and for bass i use emad for batter head and the factory tama logo head for resonate on bass. in regards to sticks i love pro mark sticks but vic firth 5a's are seeming are lasting longer. i use pro mark mallets and sticks marimbas and other concert stuff cause the mallets you make are light and that is what u want in mallets when you play 4 and even 6 mallets.
 
Hi Rick,
I have been using Evans heads since the 70s.
I began using the Hydraulic line on my Concert Tom kit of the day.
I am totally happy with the products that Evans makes.
I just recently tried a Genera Resonant head on a 10 inch tom on my Sonor Safari Jungle kit.
Wow, That head really brightened that tom up!!! It did just what it was advertised to do.
I am using a G1 Coated on the top of that drum.

I also like the EC1 coated heads. I use those on my ddrum maple kit.
Nice punchy Rock sound!

I like the coated single ply Reverse Power Dot heads on my maple snare drums along with the Hazy 300 resos.

I like the Zildjian sticks and I use several sizes of them along with many other brands.

keep up the good work!

You showed courage by posting here. You will get a full spectrum of posts that you can't spin or control.
Most companies would not do that.
I respect you for coming here as you have.
 
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After a 30 plus year vacation I am back to playing drums for about 5 years now. I have used nothing but Evans heads during this period other than the fibreskin set I am now using becuase I didn't find any vintage looking Evans heads. As for sticks I have been using almost every brand but have settled on Regal Tip and Vic Firth. Vater I find are good sticks and Pro Mark , the only pair I have were given to me and they just felt weak and looked second rate, and Zildjian that just felt worse to me. I now all of this is preference but when you find something that feels, plays and looks good, you stay with it. If Evans had a vintage looking set of heads, and by that I mean, calf skin appearance, I would snap them up. Thanks for checking in and taking the chance with us hooligans.
 
Hi Rick
I've played a few sets with Evans heads but have never had any myself and I found actually found the Remo Powerstroke Pro had a better tone than the Emad and more life. I heard so many good things about the EMAD but I was pretty disappointed with it compared to the Remo Powerstroke Pro (I now have). However, I have heard the ONYX heads and they sounds really nice.

About Pro-Mark. I've had about 3 sets of Pro-Mark sticks.
The first pair broke really quickly, which I was disappointed about.
The second pair felt really hollow and snapped a little while later
and the third pair (my dad has) just feel horrible! He loves them, but I find them the most awful stick I've ever played with. They're the Natural series and I will NEVER use Pro-mark sticks again.

Same with Vic Firth, only with a couple of exceptions of sticks (The Extreme series) but I'm planning to try out Vater soon.

I just thought I'd share my opinions and experience with the products
Thanks!
 
that's a shame chris, i've found pro mark to be the most durable stick - and the natural feeling stick is just a more natural way to get grip on your stick and to cause calluses, as apposed to them being dipped in some formula.... (see vic firth's vic grip, and pro marks pro-grip)

by the way, my test for a stick is if they last longer than 2hrs in the studio.... vic firths last around 1hr 15 min, vaters around 2hrs 10min + and pro marks 2hrs 30min +

havn't tried out my mike mangini's (zildjians) but i'd imagine they'll last a while being made out of birch, which is much denser and heavier.
 
Hi Rick. Since you are the "horse's mouth" there at Evans, I wanted to know, if you are permitted to answer...I am assuming you don't manufacture your own mylar for the drum heads. If this is true, would you say Evans, Aquarian and Remo mylar come from the same manufacturer?
BTW I have your heads on all my drums.
Thanks for your presence here, it goes a long way.

First of all, thank you for referring to me as the horse's mouth as opposed to another part of the horse......Mylar is a trade name for Dupont and the answer to your question is it depends on the type of head. There are actually a few different manufacturers of polyester film and Dupont is a source for some of the heads for Remo and Evans. I cannot comment on Aquarian only because I don't know. Other types of films and thicknesses are used on different lines of heads to achieve specifice acoustic and endurance performance.
 
Hi Rick
I've played a few sets with Evans heads but have never had any myself and I found actually found the Remo Powerstroke Pro had a better tone than the Emad and more life. I heard so many good things about the EMAD but I was pretty disappointed with it compared to the Remo Powerstroke Pro (I now have). However, I have heard the ONYX heads and they sounds really nice.

About Pro-Mark. I've had about 3 sets of Pro-Mark sticks.
The first pair broke really quickly, which I was disappointed about.
The second pair felt really hollow and snapped a little while later
and the third pair (my dad has) just feel horrible! He loves them, but I find them the most awful stick I've ever played with. They're the Natural series and I will NEVER use Pro-mark sticks again.

Same with Vic Firth, only with a couple of exceptions of sticks (The Extreme series) but I'm planning to try out Vater soon.

I just thought I'd share my opinions and experience with the products
Thanks!

Hi Chris, sorry to hear about your experience with Pro-Mark. Let me say that since we have acquired the company, we have made many improvements in the quality and consistency of the sticks. We have some exciting new developments and new manufacturing processes that will be in place over the next few months. Please shoot me an email [email protected] as I would like to talk more about your experience with Pro-Mark. Thanks, Rick
 
Hi Chris, sorry to hear about your experience with Pro-Mark. Let me say that since we have acquired the company, we have made many improvements in the quality and consistency of the sticks. We have some exciting new developments and new manufacturing processes that will be in place over the next few months. Please shoot me an email [email protected] as I would like to talk more about your experience with Pro-Mark. Thanks, Rick

Also, regarding the Evans heads - which models or combination of heads did you try and on what make of drums?
 
After a 30 plus year vacation I am back to playing drums for about 5 years now. I have used nothing but Evans heads during this period other than the fibreskin set I am now using becuase I didn't find any vintage looking Evans heads. As for sticks I have been using almost every brand but have settled on Regal Tip and Vic Firth. Vater I find are good sticks and Pro Mark , the only pair I have were given to me and they just felt weak and looked second rate, and Zildjian that just felt worse to me. I now all of this is preference but when you find something that feels, plays and looks good, you stay with it. If Evans had a vintage looking set of heads, and by that I mean, calf skin appearance, I would snap them up. Thanks for checking in and taking the chance with us hooligans.

I agree with you've gotta go with what works for you. Regal Tip and Vic Firth make great products. You are going to see some great improvements at Pro-Mark with regards to quality and new models over the next year. So please take another look in a few months. Regarding Evans vintage looking heads - thanks for the input. We are working on a vintage look which I hope to have out early next year.
 
Hi Rick,
I have been using Evans heads since the 70s.
I began using the Hydraulic line on my Concert Tom kit of the day.
I am totally happy with the products that Evans makes.
I just recently tried a Genera Resonant head on a 10 inch tom on my Sonor Safari Jungle kit.
Wow, That head really brightened that tom up!!! It did just what it was advertised to do.
I am using a G1 Coated on the top of that drum.

I also like the EC1 coated heads. I use those on my ddrum maple kit.
Nice punchy Rock sound!

I like the coated single ply Reverse Power Dot heads on my maple snare drums along with the Hazy 300 resos.

I like the Zildjian sticks and I use several sizes of them along with many other brands.

keep up the good work!

You showed courage by posting here. You will get a full spectrum of posts that you can't spin or control.
Most companies would not do that.
I respect you for coming here as you have.

Thanks for your support of Evans. I'm very happy they are working for you. I am looking forward to handling as many questions as I can. I will do my best to give honest answers to everyone's questions. I am in a somewhat unique position as I have worked initimately with the number 1 & 2 drumhead and drumstick manufacturers. As I said earlier, all make great products. Drummers need to find what feels good for them and achieves their acoustical goals.
 
hey rick i love evans heads. i use hydraulics on top and g2 on bottom of toms. i use hazy 300 on bottom and g1 and genera on top of my snares. and for bass i use emad for batter head and the factory tama logo head for resonate on bass. in regards to sticks i love pro mark sticks but vic firth 5a's are seeming are lasting longer. i use pro mark mallets and sticks marimbas and other concert stuff cause the mallets you make are light and that is what u want in mallets when you play 4 and even 6 mallets.

Wow, you must be pushing a lot air out of those drums with that head combination. Glad their working for you.
 
Thanks for your support of Evans. I'm very happy they are working for you. Drummers need to find what feels good for them and achieves their acoustical goals.
That says it all.
It is good that we have a choice of products form many manufacturers to chose from.
A product that I like may be disliked by another drummer.
I use products from numerous companies that I like.
 
Rick and I go back to 1984 when he signed me at Remo, and we've crossed paths at Vic Firth and D'Addario. He's a hard-working, straight-shooting guy. It's easy to take it for granted that forums like this are an ideal place to exchange personal info and experiences, but you can count on one hand the number of major companies who venture outside of their own forums to participate in the community. Truly, that kind of official information is better from the horse's mouth than the other end!

Thanks Rick for taking that leap, and you work way too hard on a Sunday!

Bermuda
 
Rick and I go back to 1984 when he signed me at Remo, and we've crossed paths at Vic Firth and D'Addario. He's a hard-working, straight-shooting guy. It's easy to take it for granted that forums like this are an ideal place to exchange personal info and experiences, but you can count on one hand the number of major companies who venture outside of their own forums to participate in the community. Truly, that kind of official information is better from the horse's mouth than the other end!

Thanks Rick for taking that leap, and you work way too hard on a Sunday!

Bermuda

Thanks Bermuda. I'm looking forward to participating in this community of drummers.
 
I concur w/ Bermuda in that I think it says a lot that the president of Evans is here answering questions. Rick seems like a straight shooter as Bermuda says, and I have a ton of respect for that.

If I were president of anything drumming related I would think that this forum in particular has the pulse on which my finger should be laid. Props to Rick for using this resource for the betterment of his product. For unbiased info straight from drummer's mouths, this place can't be beat.
 
Hi Rick,

May I add to the chorus of those congratulating you on having the "spheres" to participate here. The vast majority of members are super helpful & the membership demographic is about as varied as you can get.

I've used Evans heads for many years, but also have experience of others, perhaps with the exception of Aquarian. Evans are my "go to" brand every time for both live & studio work. Also worthy of note, a superb artisan drum company I'm now involved with (Guru Drumworks) fits Evans heads to all drums unless otherwise instructed by the client.

Perhaps the biggest accolade I can bestow from my lowly position in the drumming community, is that I chose to fit Evans heads to our latest development kit for a natural 3 mic capture video. It's a world first construction, & truly something special (well, we think so). You can check it out here: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79440

Thanks again for chiming in here Rick. It really is appreciated, & I hope you gain as much from this as we will from your presence.
 

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